IMDB: A German spy ring plans to publicize a false rumor that Russia, who is fighting Germany, plans to invade neutral Turkey in order to ally them with the Nazis. Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. [12] This was common behavior from Raft at the time. Topic. When Joe barges in by himself, he is quickly taken prisoner. Much to the annoyance of Colonel Robinson (Sydney Greenstreet), von Papen survives and the Russians that his agent provocateur was trying to frame have solid alibis, forcing him to turn to another scheme to inflame Turkey's traditional rivalry with Russia. Background to Danger ★★★1943A suspenseful WWII actioner about American agent Raft who travels to Turkey to receive secret documents from the soon-to-be-murdered Massen. $5.99 Buy SD. Background to Danger became Ambler's second page to screen adaptation. Background to Danger was the first of many Warner Bros. follow-ups to the studio's megahit Casablanca; it's also the film wherein the prankish Peter Lorre stole George Raft's hat between takes--an affront that rankled the touchy Raft to his dying day. Use the HTML below. There he forces the Nazi ringleader at gunpoint to burn the maps. The point of Background to Danger was that this man was a salesman and suddenly things begin to happen to him that he can't understand. [8] Philip MacDonald was assigned to write the script. Ankara in neutral Turkey : World War Two. A very romantic murderer has plans to seduce, marry and kill a beautiful woman for her wealth, but finds her younger sister to be even better prey. [7] Lew Seiler then Jo Graham was assigned to direct. Leaving the scene, he is seen by Tamara Zaleshoff (Brenda Marshall), Nikolai's sister and partner in espionage. Background to Danger . Add the first question. However, the characters in "Background to Danger" were so intriguing and - oddly enough, warm - that I found myself sucked into the characters as much as the mystery. What is clear though is that odious Colonel Robinson is a full-blown Nazi. U.S. spy (George Raft) in Turkey joins Russian agents against Nazi spy (Sydney Greenstreet). the fact that raft couldn't act his way out of a paper bag is probably quite telling as he was never taken seriously by the studio, not helped by the disagreements he was involved in. With George Raft, Brenda Marshall, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre. All in all, if the viewers don't expect this movie to be the second coming of Casablanca and just sit back and watch the action, they will be rewarded with approximately 80 minutes of a suspenseful and fun movie. (Peter Lorre as Nikolai Zaleshoff) Brief Synopsis: An American spy (George Raft) gets caught up in a German plot led by a Nazi agent (Sydney Greenstreet) to set the Turks and Russians at loggerheads so … Barton, an American agent working undercover in neutral Turkey during WWII, receives documents of plans for a supposed Russian invasion. A German spy ring plans to publicize a false rumor that Russia, who is fighting Germany, plans to invade neutral Turkey in order to ally them with the Nazis. Background to Danger is a 1943 World War II spy film starring George Raft and featuring Brenda Marshall, Sydney Greenstreet, and Peter Lorre. They take him to their leader, Colonel Robinson. Was this review helpful to you? Three strangers, each with a serious problem in their lives, share a sweepstakes ticket which they wished upon together before a Chinese idol. Drama. Background To Danger (1943) by Raoul Walsh. Somewhat confusing plot but fast-paced. Crime. John Collier was brought in to work on the script. The film was designed to capitalize on the runaway success of Casablanca, which had also featured Lorre and Greenstreet. He departs by airplane, knowing he is doomed for his failure. On the train from Baghdad to Istanbul, an American comes into possession of a package sought by both Nazi and Russian agents--something for which a beautiful woman has just been murdered--in Background to Danger. It’s based on the 1937 novel Uncommon Danger by Eric Ambler and written by W.R. Burnett. Unfortunately, he finds his hotel room has been ransacked and the documents stolen. Joe kidnaps a German embassy official and learns where Robinson has gone. Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Background to Danger, DVD, Remastered, Black & White, Full Frame, Manufactured on Demand, Mystery / Suspense, War-World War II, 883316257173 Background to Danger. Meanwhile, American machinery salesman Joe Barton (George Raft) boards the Baghdad-Istanbul Express train at Aleppo and is attracted to another passenger, Ana Remzi (Osa Massen). It was Raft's first film for Warners since Manpower. Certificate: Passed Background To Danger. Since the book was written in 1937, before the outbreak of WWII, the villain in the film was also changed. ENTER CITY, STATE OR ZIP CODE GO. It doesn't spend much time on character development. $1.99 Rent SD. for this film, george raft's last vehicle for "warner bros," he finished on a routine and weak film that has nothing new to offer whatsoever. Joe refuses to cooperate, and is taken away to be interrogated by Mailler (Kurt Katch). 1943 World War II spy film starring George Raft and featuring Brenda Marshall, Sydney Greenstreet, and Peter Lorre. he merely sleep-walks his way through "background to danger" which should be referred to … When the Zaleshoffs reveal that they are Soviet agents, Joe agrees to fetch them the documents. After a traffic accident solely involving a taxi in New York City, the Jane Doe taxi passenger is brought into the hospital, she who is physically all right but who is suffering from ... See full summary ». The longer the men stay there, the more ... See full summary ». World War II: Turkey remains neutral, wedged between Russia and the Nazi-controlled Balkans. [5], Film rights were bought by Warner Bros.[6] The film was going to star Jeffrey Lynn then he was withdrawn and replaced by Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman. Title: American Joe Barton is in the know and in the middle, along with Zaloshoff and his sister who may or may not be Russians. 29 of 32 people found this review helpful. Joe and Tamara head to Cairo for their next assignments. Directed by Raoul Walsh. Where his judgment sometimes failed him was in his personal life. The acting is not at all bad despite what you may have read elsewhere. Filming started September 1942. 1943 79 minutes. A U.S. Marshall and two deputies rescue a cattle rustler from a lynch mob led by a local cattle baron convinced that the rustler also killed his son. Add to Wishlist. The corpse of a hobo with a $50,000 money belt helps Brass and Gabby crack a cell of fifth columnists bent on sabotage. Enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing Background to Danger near you. Joe, it turns out, is also a spy (for the United States). 1:58 Background To Danger. Ozus' World Movie Reviews [Dennis Schwartz]. And aside from a few shifts in locale, the movie remained quite faithful to Ambler's novel. Background to Danger has all the thrills of an Alfred Hitchcock movie. Publication date 1943 Topics peter lorre, sydney greenstreet, george raft, brenda marshall, turhan bey, kurt katch. It was published in the US under the title Background to Danger. And he gets involved in all this espionage. During WW2, in neutral Portugal, a Dutch resistance fighter is attempting to find passage to England while trying to avoid Nazi spies and Portuguese policemen. What is clear though is that odious Colonel Robinson is a full-blown Nazi. Exciting WW2 espionage thriller suffers in modern viewings by the crude and old-fashioned nature of its action sequences: a car chase relying on sped-up footage; a train being represented by stock footage, a miniature, or a cramped set; men … He hides when someone else approaches the room. Nicolai (Peter Lorre), with his more fetching sister Tamara (Brenda Marshall), first secretly dispatches Ivor (Daniel Ocko), then reveals to American Joe (George Raft) why he rescued him from a crew of bogus Turkish cops, in Background To Danger, 1943, from an Eric Ambler novel. Films similar to or like Background to Danger. A town of intrigue and of provocateurs. Background to Danger is similar to these films: The Constant Nymph (1943 film), Between Two Worlds (1944 film), Three Strangers and more. Of course, Sidney Greenstreet plays his usual pompous rearend character that seems to be his one and only characterization but, he pulls it off well, causing the audience to dislike him appropriately. Joe obliges, but when he later examines the envelope, he finds maps of Turkey with writing on them. (1943). Five patriotic convicts are helped to escape imprisonment in Devil's Island so they can fight for occupied Free French forces against the Nazis. But Raft wouldn't do it unless he was an FBI man. When he reports to his boss, McNamara (Willard Robertson), he is assigned an assistant, Hassan (Turhan Bey). The Zaleshoffs have also been captured. In 1903, a doctor suspects murder in the gothic Bederaux family. Background to Danger Synopsis. There, Robinson has bribed a newspaper publisher to print an article claiming that the documents are secret Russian plans for the invasion of Turkey. Kenton’s career as a journalist depended on his facility with languages, his knowledge of European politics, and his quick judgment. A group of escaped convicts take over a suburban home to evade the ongoing police manhunt, making the lives of the family living there a nightmare. Other articles where Background to Danger is discussed: Raoul Walsh: At Warner Brothers: The Roaring Twenties, High Sierra, and White Heat: Background to Danger (1943) was an adaptation of Eric Ambler’s novel of World War II espionage; in it, an American agent (Raft) is sent into the fray in Turkey, where he is suitably menaced by a Nazi colonel (Sydney Greenstreet) and a Russian spy (Peter… The Russian operative positively portrayed by Brenda Marshall shows an exaggerated degree of cooperation,[3] and the film has a slight pro-Soviet bias akin to Warners' Mission to Moscow from the same year. [10][11] Raft insisted on the script being changed so that his character was an undercover American agent instead of an ordinary man. We take a look at how Oscar front-runner Chloé Zhao will change Marvel forever. The film was based on the 1937 novel Uncommon Danger by Eric Ambler. posted to www.marxmail.org on July 25, 2003. Characteristics. Before the Germans get very far, Joe is rescued by Nikolai. I think he wanted to be on the side of the law for a change."[14]. From Wings to Parasite, here's a look back at all of the Best Picture Oscar winners in the history of the ceremony. The Germans are planning to leak maps apparently proving that the Russians are about to invade the country. 7. Jerry Wald was assigned to produce and Raoul Walsh to direct. 'Oh, you Americans, always in a hurry, hurry, business, business!' Then, Joe exits through the window. The Turkish police take Joe in for questioning, only it turns out that they are German agents. [15], "Why Stars Stop Being Stars: George Raft", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Background_to_Danger&oldid=1015422152, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 1 April 2021, at 11:29. Mystery writer Cornelius Leyden becomes intrigued when the murdered body of a vicious career criminal washes up in the Bosphorus. Along with the two other Eric Ambler novels I have already reviewed here and "A Coffin For Dimitrios" reviewed in a pending issue of swans online, the 1937 "Background to Danger" appears in the 1970 anthology titled "Intrigue". Green-street is the Nazi master spy who also wants the documents as do Russian spies, Lorre and Marshall. Background to Danger was the first of many Warner Bros. follow-ups to the studio's megahit Casablanca; it's also the film wherein the prankish Peter Lorre stole George Raft's hat between takes--an affront that rankled the touchy Raft to his dying day. In November 1942 Raft would buy out his contract with Warners. Written by make this a fun film. background to danger Personal risks directly affect an individual and may involve the loss of earnings and assets or an increase in expenses. Turkey remains neutral, wedged between Russia and the Nazi-controlled Balkans. [9], In June 1942, the film became a star vehicle for George Raft. Robinson is handed over to the Turkish police and then to his greatly displeased superior. However, it moves very fast, never staying in one place for too long. A la THE MALTESE FALCON or CASABLANCA, a tale of intrigue and deception set in an exotic locale with stoic good guys and colorful baddies. Based on the novel Background to Danger by Eric Ambler (New York, 1937). English journalist Kenton finds himself in hot water when he agrees to help a fellow European traveler smuggle some 'securities' out of Germany in the final days before World War II. Uncommon Danger is the second novel by British thriller writer Eric Ambler, published in 1937. Based on the 1937 novel Uncommon Danger by Eric Ambler and set in politically neutral Turkey, the screenplay was credited to W. R. Burnett, although William Faulkner and Daniel Fuchs[2] also contributed. Turhan Bey did a great job and his character was very welcomed indeed. He said he didn't want to be any ribbon salesman. About Background to Danger. Joe and Tamara get away, but Nikolai is killed during the escape. I've only given this four stars because, really, of my own personal tastes and lack of knowledge … A town of intrigue and of provocateurs. Some good action sequences and scenes on a fast moving train, hotel rooms, in a German headquarters, etc. Jeremy Perkins {J-26}. In his autobiography, Here Lies, Ambler explains the original title was Background To Danger, but his British publisher disliked the word 'background', so it was published in all English-speaking countries except the US as Uncommon Danger. When they stop in Ankara, he goes to her hotel to return her property, only to find she has been fatally wounded. "The last two years have been a turning point in our longstanding fight to help prevent gun violence and we take another leap forward in helping to save lives. [13], Writer W.R. Burnett, who had also written Scarface said "I was always afraid that I'd have to face Eric Ambler after what we did to that. This FAQ is empty. Background to Danger Share. After an innocent man is executed in a case he was responsible for, a Scotland Yard superintendent finds himself investigating the murder of his key witness. Crime, Certificate: Passed He watches unobserved as Soviet spy Nikolai Zaleshoff (Peter Lorre) searches the dead woman's luggage. She is worried about being searched by customs agents once they reach the Turkish border; she asks Joe to hold on to an envelope containing some securities, all that remains of her inheritance. Robinson wants the maps. Before he knows it, … Based on the thriller “Uncommon Danger” by Eric Ambler. When a beautiful brunette hands American Joe Barton (Raft) some securities for safekeeping, the brunette turns up dead. Ankara in neutral Turkey : World War Two. In 1942, Nazi Germany attempts to bring neutral Turkey into the war on its side by staging an assassination attempt on Franz von Papen, its own ambassador to the country. Goon Mailer (Kurt Katch) delivers American Joe (George Raft), a salesman somehow drawn to espionage, to Robinson (Sydney Greenstreet), whom we know to be a Nazi agent, posing here as a Turkish police official, for a talk about secret papers, in Raoul Walsh's Background To Danger, 1943. Fandango FANALERT® Sign up for a FANALERT® to find out when tickets are available in your area. The movie was directed by Raoul Walsh. A German spy ring plans to publicize a false rumor that Russia, who is fighting Germany, plans to invade neutral Turkey in order to ally them with the Nazis. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Themes. 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